Busyness

Suddenly it's September again; school starts and so does the cascade of events that comes with fall. School sports, youth groups, music lessons, home schooling, bible studies, ladies groups, church ministries, board meetings, book clubs, parent events and such are now in full swing. Our schedules can get full really quick. It’s a joyful time of learning and having fun doing what we love, but it is critical that we are intentional with the time that we have, before our schedules get out of hand. 

I saw a video years ago of a man demonstrating time management in a tangible way. I’ve since come to learn that it’s called the Pickle Jar Theory. He had a large jar in front of him and he had a selection of rocks, pebbles, gravel, sand and water to the side. He did a combination of different orders to add each element to the jar. If the water was added first the rocks would cause the jar to overflow. If the sand was added first the rocks wouldn’t fit. The only way that allowed the jar to contain all the elements without overflowing was to add the rocks first, followed by each consecutively smaller element, finishing with the water to fill in all the cracks. If the rocks represent the first priorities in our life, then they must be treated as first priority, before they fail to fit in the jar full of low priority sand. 

This metaphor works well, considering that God is our Rock. He must be first. If we nudge Him out, even unintentionally, our lives are incomplete. Our lives as Christians must contain daily scripture reading and prayer, so that we can continue to grow nearer to God and become more like Christ. If we push the only sources of knowing God to the sidelines, our growth as Christians gets put on hold and we become stagnant, indistinguishable from people who do not profess to know God. 

Psalm 18:1-2 → I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

The other image that comes to mind when thinking of priorities is the parable of the Good Samaritan. While it is meant to tell us that being a good neighbour means to have mercy and kindness on everyone, even those to whom it is unexpected, it also criticises the priest and the Levite who bypasses the injured man. The priest was expected to have compassion and mercy as a minister to the people, likewise the Levite belongs to the tribe dedicated to serve God through the maintenance and operation of the temple. Both were expected to be godly men. So why did they bypass the man in need? My thought is that their priorities were out of order. Perhaps they noticed the lack of witnesses and knew they wouldn’t reap the benefits of a public display of compassion. Maybe they were so out of touch with God and His will that they didn’t recognise their role as God’s servants to help the man in need. Either way they failed to be good neighbours and therefore failed Jesus’ command to love your neighbour as yourself. 

Luke 10:30-37 → Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbour to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

So, what is the first priority in the case of the Good Samaritan? Let's take a look at the verses that precede the parable. A man had asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Based on the summary of the Old Testament he gave Jesus, he answered his own question in these verses:

Luke 10:27-28 → … “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” And [Jesus] said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

Our first priority is always Christ. It always comes back to the gospel. Firstly we are to love God with everything that we are, because of who He is and because He has redeemed us. Secondly we are to love others, so that they may see us and attribute our love to God, who can redeem them as well. These are the essentials of the gospel. The priest and the Levite described in the passages above do not exemplify their love for God or others. It may be vague to prioritize the gospel in our lives, but practically that means to intentionally make time for reading God’s word, to constantly be reminded of how we have been saved and the calling we now hold as believers. We must make time to pray, to praise God, to worship Him. If every second of our day is jam packed, or we’ve run ourselves to the point of exhaustion, there will be no time or energy to glorify God, know Him better or act in the manner we have been called to. 

Of course we can glorify God with our conversations with the other soccer moms, or in our workplace, or while singing hymns while doing chores. But the intentional time with God in His word is irreplaceable and essential to stick to the narrow path. I notice that if I skip a few days worth of my bible readings I have less patience and grace for my kids. I am also less thankful for the multitude of blessings I’ve been given. We must be in the word consistently. It’s as simple as that. 

Jesus reiterates the Old Testament metaphor of God as our Rock as well as tells us to make Him the foundation of our lives in this passage:

Matthew 7:24-25 → Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

We can still live a busy life by the world’s standards, but we must make sure our first priority and our foundation is God. That will ensure that everything we do in life will glorify Him. 

Matthew 6:33 → …seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness…

Proverbs 3:6 → In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.